Gravel Change?

[Liz05]

Hi! Ive been thinking. I have rough, white gravel in my tank. I've had the same gravel for over a year. Needless to say, its beginning to look pretty gross. I'd really like to get something darker, that wont get as noticeably yucky. What would be the safest way to change the gravel? My tank is stable... but would it be too dangerous to remove it all at once? And If I just took it out and cleaned it, wouldn't I be destroying my beneficial bacteria anyway? I really don't know how to go about doing this. Any advice would be great! Thanks

 

[teknikz]

if u can put ur fish in a bucket for a ikkle bit....with water from ur tank....then u can take all of the gravel out and put ur new stuff in......u will not have any gravel bacteria tho

if u wash ur existin gravel u will lose the bacteria anyway...so use some new stuff n put a lil bit of the old gravel with it so the bacteria spreads

Tek

 

[Alien Anna]

I've got fine, natural coloured pea gravel which I bought in a large sack from an aquarium and pond shop (it was designed as a base for ponds, I believe). Being slightly multicoloured (browns and greys) it doesn't show the dirt and is fine enough for most fish (doesn't hurt my SAEs barbels). I have thought about replacing it with sand but now I'm thinking of simply mixing it with laterite.

 

[Kissifish]

Am speaking from past experience.............do not change all the gravel at once. It will deplete almost all of your bacteria. Try getting a tank divider or something similar to push some of the gravel to one side (leave the divider in place so the old gravel doesn't mix with the new). Add enough new gravel to look right in the empty space.

A week later, do the same thing again.

Keep repeating until you have changed all the gravel.

If you do it all at once, you may cause your tank to go through cycling again.